Conventionally, chips for inspection tools (pipettes) used in the medical field and the like have been manufactured by injection molding. In some cases, the chips manufactured by injection molding are individually packaged with a film or the like before they are shipped.
PTL 1 discloses an injection molding machine for manufacturing an injection-molded article. The injection molding machine disclosed in PTL 1 includes an injection device and a mold clamping device. The injection device includes a cylinder for heating pellet as a raw material to obtain melted resin, and a screw for injecting melted resin to a metal mold. In addition, the mold clamping device includes a metal mold and a mold clamping mechanism for holding the metal mold at the time when the melted resin is injected. In this injection molding machine, the melted resin is injected by the cylinder into the metal mold fixed by the mold clamping mechanism with a predetermined pressure. The resin supplied in the metal mold is subjected to pressure holding and cooling for a predetermined time. Finally, the metal mold is opened, and the injection-molded article is taken out.
In addition, PTL 2 discloses a deep drawing mold packaging machine that packages an object with two films. The deep drawing mold packaging machine disclosed in PTL 2 includes a forming device for forming a recessed pocket in a lower film, a covering means for covering with upper film a pocket in which a packaged object is inserted, a sealing means for sealing the outer periphery portion of the pocket and the upper film, and a cutting means for cutting the sealed two films between the products. In this deep drawing packaging machine, a packaged object is housed in the pocket of the lower film, and the upper film is covered so as to cover the pocket. Next, the outer periphery portion of the pocket and the upper film are sealed, and then the two films thus sealed are cut at a predetermined position.
Typically, a molding cycle in an injection molding machine such as that disclosed in PTL 1 requires a certain period of time for pressure holding and cooling, and thus requires a period of time longer than the packaging cycle in a deep drawing mold packaging machine such as that disclosed in PTL 2.